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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Bill Cosby's lawyer originally issued a blanket denial against all accusations but amended it Monday

In 2004, Constand had accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her. The case was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed sum

In 2004, 13 women came forward to accuse the comedian of drugging and raping them. That suit was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed amount

Attorney John P Scmitt said Sunday that his 77-year-old client will not 'dignify' the accusations with a comment

Also on Sunday, actress Barbara Bowman appeared on CNN to speak about how Cosby allegedly raped her and how it was covered up

Bill Cosby amended his blanket denial of the continued rape allegations against him on Monday to clarify it did not include one of his many accusers.The new statement says Cosby's denials do not refer to accuser Andrea Constand, whose civil lawsuit against him was settled in 2006.Differences between Cosby and Constand were 'resolved to the mutual satisfaction' of both parties, according to the new statement, jointly issued by lawyers for Cosby and Constand. Neither party intends to comment further, it adds.

The earlier statement, issued over the weekend, referred to 'decade-old, discredited allegations' against Cosby, stating that 'the fact that they are being repeated does not make them true.'

Constand had accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 2004.

On Saturday, Cosby shook his head, wagged his finger and gave an 'impish, delightful' smile as he refused to to talk about rape allegations against him, a radio interviewer revealed.NPR host Scott Simon asked the 77-year-old about the accusations during an interview on Saturday, prompting the comedian to go quiet.

A day later his lawyer released a statement saying Cosby will not dignify 'decade-old, discredited' accusations of sexual abuse with any comment.Speaking to CNN, broadcaster Mr Simon described his reaction to the question concerning the historic claims.'He began to shake his head and wag his finger,' Simon said. 'He gave what I would refer to as that impish, delightful Cosby smile of his.'Sitting beside Cosby and his wife Camille, host Scott Simon said: 'This question gives me no pleasure Mr Cosby, but there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days.

'I'm in the news business. I have to ask the question. Do you have any response to those charges?'While seconds earlier Cosby had been confidently chatting about the loan of his art for an exhibition in Washington D.C, he immediately stopped speaking.Undeterred, Simon prodded: 'There are people who love you who might like to hear from you about this. I want to give you the chance.' But despite his efforts, Cosby stayed quiet.The interviewer told the station that there was no suggestion there was any gag order in place as his 'people' addressed the issue before the start of the show.

'His people said to us he is represented by a very famous PR man in Beverly Hills who has done a lot of good work for him and others over the past couple of years,' he added.'I think they said: 'You know you guys are so classy you don't dip into the muck and the mud the way the rest of the people do'.'I thought there was a good chance the interiew would be cancelled but it obviously wasn't.'I can safely say that they had a strategy in place for when the question was asked. Maybe they thought we couldn't use silence on the radio.'In a statement posted online, attorney John P. Schmitt said the fact that the allegations are being repeated does not make them true.He doesn't intend to 'dignify' the allegations with a comment.There has been a growing uproar over allegations that Cosby assaulted several women in the past, and during an interview on Saturday, the 77-year-old went quiet when he was finally confronted with questions about the case during an interview on NPR.Finally, the 62-year-old presenter concluded: 'Alright. Camille and Bill Cosby. They have lent 62 pieces from their collection of African and African American art to create an exhibit.'Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue is now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art through early 2016. Thank you both.'Although Cosby remained silent, his wife of 50 years could be heard saying 'Thank you' twice.Simon, a father of two, later took to Twitter to remark on his broaching of the allegations, which seemingly had not been agreed to as a potential topic of conversation prior to the interview.He tweeted: 'I'll respond to @BillCosby questions later. For moment: Yes, I hated having to ask about charges in front of Mrs Cosby.'The Weekend Edition Saturday interview, later uploaded to CNN, comes just a day after Cosby's scheduled appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman next week was cancelled.The cancellation meant the comedian has been dropped from a TV lineup twice in a month following his withdrawl from Queen Latifah's talk show in early November.Decades-old accusations of rape came back to haunt Cosby last month after stand-up comedian and former Saturday Night Live writer Hannibal Buress unleashed a violent tirade about him.During a live performance, Buress dubbed Cosby a 'rapist' and a sanctimonious hypocrite. A video of the rant quickly spread online, reigniting a fire that has long burned.It also inspired one alleged victim, Barbara Bowman, to come forward and share her story with MailOnline, claiming she was sexually assaulted by Cosby when she was aged 19.

On Friday, a spokesman for The Late Show confirmed to Newsday that Cosby's guest booking for next Wednesday had been cancelled. It unclear whether it was Cosby or Letterman that pulled out.Meanwhile, a representative for Queen Latifah's talk show reported that it was Cosby who withdrew from his spot on October 31.Allegations of rape were first leveled against Cosby in 2005 in a lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee.The 32-year-old claimed she had been sexually assaulted in the star's Philadelphia mansion in 2004, adding that her suit also contained the testimonies of 13 other women with similar claims.The suit was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed amount. Bowman has now come forward identifying herself as one of those 13 women.Speaking to MailOnline, Bowman alleged: 'I was drugged and raped by that man. He is a monster. He came at me like a monster.'My hope is that others who have experienced sexual abuse will not be intimidated into silence by the famous, rich and powerful. If I can help one victim, then I've done my job.'Bowman was just a teenager at the time she met Cosby, and soon the actor was flying her to meet him around the country and putting her up in the nicest hotels, it is alleged.Things changed, however, when one night she reportedly passed out after a glass of wine and woke up vomiting in the toilet wearing Cosby's white t-shirt.Bowman is certain that she was drugged by Cosby. And she believes she was raped by him too.After that her relationship with Cosby changed, and by 19 he had sent her on her way after a final night in Atlantic City, where she claims he tried to rape her.Cosby has not commented on the allegations and has never been charged with sexual assault.On Monday, in an apparent attempt to connect with his Twitter followers, Cosby invited fans to create memes using a selection of photos of him. However, the idea majorly backfired.

Instead, the comedian's Twitter feed was inundated with memes that referenced the rape claims.Shortly after, Cosby's original tweet was deleted and the meme generator was removed from the site.The link now redirects people to Cosby's homepage.Cosby has also been receiving criticism in reviews of his new authorized biography on Amazon, by readers who say the book whitewashes the allegations.Cosby: Life and Times author Mark Whitaker, an ex-editor of Newsweek, told Buzzfeed that he did not include the 2004 case because he 'didn't want to print allegations that I couldn't confirm independently'.Since the allegations were rekindled last month, reviewers on Amazon have been giving the book negative reviews for glossing over the case.The horrifying accusations are 'not mentioned in the book. Not one little bit.

Didn't even happen, 'parently,' according to one user.In one review, a user asks 'Where are the 13 rape chapters?''Cosby ostensibly is an intelligent, witty guy everybody would love to hang around with. Except, of course, if you're a younger, pretty girl who agrees to take drinks, pills, and 'pointers' from Bill in private,' the user writes. 'So, while he does have insights and interesting things to say, how can I read a book, chuckling at anecdotes written by a serial rapist?'User Dana Friedman says Cosby's 'cooperation' with the book made it seem like the author was only telling the comedian's side of the story.'There were several instances in which Whitaker retold stories from a very one-sided point of view. You could practically hear Cosby dictating it. In more than a few instances in which there were differences of opinion, Whitaker only wrote Cosby's side, without showing much regard for the other point of view,' Friedman, of New York, wrote.While his new biography does not directly address the rape allegations, it does cover Cosby's past indiscretions, starting in the early 1970s when he would spend half his time on the East Coast with his family, and the other half in Las Vegas, performing stand-up and spending his free time at Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion.Cosby allegedly cheated on his wife with multiple women, including a 'tall striking brunette' named Shawn Berkes.The two apparently had several 'rendezvous' before Berkes one day showed up to his room at the Hilton and told him he had fathered her then 14-month-old child named Autumn.In 1997, Autumn Jackson was revealed to the public when she was arrested on extortion charges for trying to get Cosby to pay her $24million co cover up the fact that she was his love child.'When news of the arrest first broke, Cosby's spokesmen insisted that he barely knew Jackson,' Whitaker writes. 'They admitted that he had paid for Autumn's college tuition for a year and set up a fund for other expenses, but they described her as just one of the hundreds of young people Cosby had helped put through school.'Cosby eventually admitted in a TV interview that there was a 'possibility' Autumn was his child. She was later sentenced to 26 months in jail for the extortion lot.